The present invention pertains to apparatus for temporarily securing a fishing rod in place during fishing, so that the person fishing need not constantly hold the rod while waiting for a fish strike, and more particularly to a combined rod holder and clamp allowing the user to both readily and quickly secure the rod and retrieve it when a strike occurs.
Everyone who fishes is well aware that even on a productive fishing outing, there are often long intervals between fish strikes. Yet it is necessary that the fishing rod handle be held constantly in a secure position, lest the rod be pulled into the water and lost when a strike occurs.
To obviate any need for the user to constantly hold the rod in the hand, it is desirable to provide an apparatus allowing the user to temporarily secure the fishing rod handle, so that the user may engage in other activities between fish strikes, such as reading, consuming food and/or a beverage, or quietly talking to any fishing companions.
It is needed that such an apparatus allow the user to easily and quickly secure the rod handle to the apparatus to await a fish strike, and even more importantly, to very easily and quickly remove the rod handle from the apparatus when a strike occurs. It is also needed to provide such an apparatus which is simple in form, and uses a minimum of material, so as to be easily and inexpensively manufactured.
Embodiments of the present invention, detailed below, meet said needs by the general approach of providing a fixed hollow tubular holder for the rod handle inserted in one end of the holder, said holder having an opening on the top, and a clamp hingedly attached to one end of said opening, said clamp and opening being of a form allowing the user to secure the rod handle within the holder in two ways, by pressing down upon the clamp, which causes the clamp to engage a lip at one end of said opening, and also causes the clamp to engage the rod handle by clamping said handle between the sides of the clamp; and to free the rod handle from the holder by simply pulling up on the clamp.
It is not the intent of this application, by stating that certain embodiments of the present invention are suited to meeting certain needs, to necessarily limit the scope of the invention to only embodiments which meet said needs; it is instead the intent that the scope of the invention be determined by the claims as more fully stated below.